


Learning to Flock Together

by davi_lavonne



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Angst and Humor, Body Dysphoria, Discrimination, Eventual Happy Ending, Explicit Language, Fluff and Angst, Hate Crimes, Hurt/Comfort, Hybrid AU, MENTION OF:, Minor Violence, Multi, Panic Attacks, RageHappy, Ragehappy Secret Santa, Threesome - F/M/M, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 15:30:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2817248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/davi_lavonne/pseuds/davi_lavonne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gavin is an independent hybrid that can take care of himself, thank you very much. He loves his brand new relationship with Geoff and Griffon, but still feels uneasy because it was so brand new. He would just rather handle his issues himself. But when Gavin becomes a victim of a hybrid related hate crime while he is out of the country, he loses his ability to cope and starts to question his place with not only the Ramseys, but with all of Rooster Teeth. </p><p>Hybrid AU; G^3 pairing</p>
            </blockquote>





	Learning to Flock Together

-

 

 

The only time Gavin missed England was during the extreme heat of Austin summers, when he had to deal with his body going into his seasonal molt. Every time it was the same experience. He itched to the point of pain, he lost his much needed sleep to tossing and turning, and was a flushed and sweaty mess. The annual shedding of his feathers was the only reason he owned multiple fans and in the worst of the heat, he usually had at least four of the devices simultaneously on him. 

He was also prone to terrible mood swings. His instincts were all out of whack, and after years of dealing with this, Gavin learned something important about himself. When it came to his molt, he was absolute hell to live with.

That was why, when the opportunity to go back to the cloudy and mild weathered UK to film ‘Slo Mo Guys’ stuff with Dan came up, he kissed a worried Geoff and Griffon good bye, and got the fuck out of Austin. 

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

_"Gav, you don’t have to go, you know," said Griffon, eyeing Gavin’s weary posture as he packed a suitcase._

_'Lovely Griffon,' Gavin thought with a small smile. 'She shouldn't have to worry like this.'_

_"Yeah I know," Gavin sighed, sitting up and letting his wings stretch out. “But I can’t take this blimey weather. It’s turning me into a pissy little piss-pot.”_

_"Bud, we get it," Geoff said, leaning against the doorway, his eyes showing the same concern as his wife but refusing to give it a voice. "We’re just sad that we are going to lose our twink for a week. I, for one, am heartbroken as dicks."_

_"You’re a bastard Geoffery."_

_"Aw, I love you too buddy."_

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

It was no secret Gavin adored Geoff and Griffon. From the very beginning, when he was just a Britain hybrid lad needing a place to stay while in America, he latched onto the couple and they did the same and refused to let each other go. They clicked in a way that was almost effortless and quickly went from friends to best friends in the span of a few months. And recently, the threesome transformed into a real threesome. 

And for the first time in his life, Gavin wasn't feeling so sure about where he stood. He loved and appreciated the concern from his partners, but his part in the relationship was still very much new, and he felt self-conscious about his place within it. While the Ramseys had been married for many years, Gav was currently the three month secret no one knew about. The lad wasn't even sure if they were his boyfriend and girlfriend. He knew that if things went south, Geoff and Griffon would never split apart. They’d be fine, while he on the other hand wouldn’t be. He did not want to go back to being 'just friends' after experiencing how great it was to be truly with them. If it went to ruins, he would have to leave, at least for a while to get his head back on straight. 

That's why it made sense to him to continue to take care of personal issues himself so as not to get too dependent on anyone. He didn't want to have to relearn how to be alone.

The other reason he was all for leaving the country was sometimes he just needed to be around another hybrid and unfortunately, neither Geoff, nor Griffon fit the bill. They never seemed to mind him being one, other than to tease him sometimes, but even he noticed how it was the one thing they were always careful not to take too far. Real prejudices were still all too common for people like him and with hybrids still being a minority, that wasn’t likely to change soon. 

The only hybrids Gavin knew personally were Burnie, Dan, and Michael and while he would usually get advice from Burnie about life or go out and hang with his boi to blow off steam, both men were out of town at a convention. That left B as his only option.

Plus he just genuinely wanted to see Dan.

So with his bags packed and his goodbyes said, Gavin found himself on a ten hour trip to London. By the time he touched down in his home country, he was starting to feel drowsy and plopped himself onto a bench to wait for Dan. After several minutes, he felt his eyelids start to droop. 

'Stupid molt always leaves me feeling knackered', he thought, stifling a yawn.

Shifting into a more comfortable position and checking his phone, he saw that his friend should be there any time now. With a sigh, Gavin closed his eyes.

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

"Hey, B!"

Gavin jerked up, startled. Stretching and feeling how sore he was, he realized he must have drifted off for at least a little while. A few of his feathers were uncomfortably out of alignment. Turning around in his seat, he could now see the wolf hybrid jogging over. His friend's tail was slowly wagging, the way it always did when he was around a pack member. As soon as he got near, Gavin pulled him in for a one-armed hug.

"Sorry I was late, man," Dan said pulling away. "Traffic was buggering hell."

"Nah, it’s alright," Said Gavin, grabbing his luggage with one hand and attempting to fix his feathers with his less dominant hand before giving up. "I’m not bothered, B." 

He followed Dan towards the parking lot and the minute he felt a breeze ruffle his feathers, he knew he made the right decision in coming. He had missed the sensation of wind flowing through his wings. Gavin instantly perked up. He felt like a brand new bird.

"You've been very secretive about what you have planned for the week," Dan said helping load up the car and getting in the driver's seat. He thumped Gavin on the arm. "Will there be any hospital trips in the future for me?"

"Ow, Dan!" Gavin exclaimed, rubbing his arm and sticking out his bottom lip, frowning. "There will be now, ya git!"

Snickering at the bird hybrid’s pouting, Dan started up the vehicle and pulled out of the airport parking lot. Gavin pulled out his phone to text Griffon to let her know he made it to Dan safely before shoving it back in his pocket.

"No but really, what do you want to do while you're here?" Dan remarked, glancing back at Gavin. "Probably shouldn't do anything too active because honestly B, you look like shite."

"Thanks a lot, way to make me feel good," Gavin whined, crossing his arms. "You're a fucking dickwad, and I have no Idea why you are my best friend."

"'Cause no one else wants that particular title," explained a grinning Dan, before his expression shifted into one of slight worry, "but really man, are you ok? You look like you've lost weight and from the bags under your eyes, I'd say sleeping hasn't gone well."

"You know how molting season is for me," said Gavin, giving a reassuring smile. He heard his ringtone chime and turned away to pull out his phone. He smiled when he saw it was from his girl.

 

_______________

_Today at 2:51 p.m.  
From: griff <3n_

_Thanks for letting us know. Geoff says not to suck too many dicks while you're away, which really means 'please dont forget me gavvywavvy'! miss you already!_

______________

 

"I know, I know, it's just my instincts aren't thrilled that my 'pack mate' is unhealthy right now and you know how THAT is," Dan stated, bringing Gavin back to the conversation. Thinking over what Dan just said reminded him of how terribly protective the wolf hybrid was anytime something happened to his pack. There were several moments in his teenage years that he basically had an overgrown guard dog watching his every move. 

Turning off his phone, Gavin turned back to Dan and said, "I'll be tippy top within a week, you'll see, and don't you worry, Daniel. I've got so much planned for us."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah man, you'll love it!"

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

Dan did not look like he was loving it.

"Damn it B!" Dan shouted, holding a paper towel to his hand while he ran through his house . "You promised no hospitals this trip!"

"First of all, I didn't at all promise that," replied Gavin, following the wolf and wincing as he saw blood start to seep through the paper towel, "and second, it isn't that bad, you big baby."

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one dripping blood everywhere!"

"I hardly think it's 'dripping'," he shot back, as sure enough, a drop of blood landed on the floor of Dan's kitchen.

Dan gestured toward the spot with an 'I-told-you-so' look on his face.

"Eh, you'll be fine," said Gavin nonchalantly, before going outside to pack up all the equipment he had spread out in Dan's backyard. Damn his friend could be a whiny puppy when he wanted to be!

"Screw you Gav," was the grumpy response that followed him outside. "At least the footage is good and- oh hey, it stopped bleeding."

"See, I'm right," said Gavin, giving Dan a glance, "and honestly, I'm amazed you were able to not injure yourself until now."

Gavin wasn't kidding. In the four days he had been in the UK, he had put Dan through the ringer. He was able to get some great footage that would last several months, but poor Dan was starting to look more and more freaked out by the ideas Gavin had planned. Admittedly, a few weren't doable without Dan losing a limb in the process; however, Gavin was willing to make that sacrifice. 

The two Brits finished packing up all the equipment and went into Dan's living room to begin their ritual of playing a little Xbox before deciding what to get for  
dinner. After losing multiple games in a row to a very smug wolf, Gavin sat up from where he was sprawled across the couch. Halfway through the gaming session, he had started to feel a bit twitchy and it had only gotten worse.

"Dan, I'm starting to feel fidgety; I think I'm gonna go for a walk and enjoy the gloom of England before I go stir-crazy," he said, ruffling up his hair. "You wanna come?"

"Nah, I'm pretty comfortable," answered Dan, stretching. "How long will you be gone?"

"Not too long, probably ten minutes or so," Gavin replied. "I just need to burn some energy."

He got up off the couch and walked out the front door. He pulled out his IPod and after finding his 'euro trash' playlist, he fired it up, and began to lightly jog down the sidewalk. He quickly noticed that there weren't very many people out and glancing up, he could see it looked like it was going to rain sometime soon.

'Typical England. The weather feels nice right now though,' he thought, closing his eyes and feeling a light breeze go through his feathers. 'Hope the rain holds off a little bit 'til I get back to Dan's.' He felt his wings flutter behind him and looking at them, he was happy to see that they looked nice and glossy from all the preening he had done over the last few days. He had already shed a good portion of his very loose feathers and could feel the new ones coming in. It was both itchy and slightly painful but he knew he was towards the end of his molt. A few more days and he could go home.

As he was thinking this, his IPod froze half way through a particularly bad song. Looking down as he tried to fix it, he turned a corner and ran face first into someone, knocking both himself and the other person off their feet.

"Oh damn it, I'm sorry mate," Gavin blurted out, picking himself up and dusting off some dirt from his pants, before looking up at three of the biggest guys he had ever seen. 

One was in a blue cap and a jean jacket, while the one to his right had a rather unfortunate mole under one of his eyes. The third man was on the ground still and must’ve been the guy Gavin slammed into. This guy had a rather patchy goatee and was wearing an orange t-shirt. The thing they all had in common was just how disgruntled they looked.

"Fuckin' freak knocked me over," said Goatee, as he was now dubbed in Gavin's head, sounding pissed as he picked himself up off the ground.

"Hey now, there's no need for name calling", Gavin exclaimed, now slightly irritated. "I didn't mean to fall into you and I'm sorry that I did, but there's no need to be a tosser about it."

"What the fuck did you say to me, hybrid scum?" Goatee snarled as he took an aggressive step towards him. Gavin's 'I-am-a-prey-animal' senses began to go off. Starting to feel a little bit out of his league, he took several steps backwards. With a loud thump, he realized he had run into a thick wooden fence with his back and wings. The strangers quickly spread out, blocking Gavin's escape route.

"Listen, I-I don't want any trouble," stammered Gavin, putting his hands up in front of him in the universal pose of 'I-mean-no-harm'. He nervously glanced around and saw that there wasn't anyone else around. Gulping, he felt every instinct in his body telling him to spread out his wings to try to look bigger to the 'predators' in front of him, but he knew he was out numbered and any sign of aggression could be taken badly.

"Maybe you should've thought of that before you ran into your betters," said Blue Cap, getting uncomfortably close to Gavin. "Hey, this bitch looks familiar, don't you think?"

"Man, I dunno," said Mole Man, spitting at the ground. "I can't tell one beast from the other. These damn things should never be allowed to run around. Taking our jobs, taking our women, and taking up our space. If I had my way, they'd all be locked up somewhere or euthanized or somethin'."

The other two grunted in agreement.

"Euthanized?!" Gavin burst out, horrified at the hate spewing from complete strangers. "What the hell is wrong wi-"

Abruptly, the bird hybrid was slammed into the fence by Goatee, jamming his back and wings into the wood. The other two grabbed his arms, pinning him there as Goatee reached into Gavin's pocket and pulled out his wallet and proceeded to look through it.

"Mark, you were right about this guy," he said, pulling out Gavin's I.D. and tossing it to the man in the cap, the so-called 'Mark'. "This is that Gavin Free fellow from Rooster Teeth, the one that feels the need to shove his hybrid-ness down everyone's throat."

"Is he really?" Mark asked, holding onto Gavin's left arm as he struggled to get away and picking up the I.D. with his free arm. "Man, Luke, look at this. Now I really want to kick his teeth in."

"Let me go," grunted Gavin, pushing against the hands restraining him, before being slammed back against the wooden wall. The force of the shove caused some of his old, loose feathers to fall out and hit the ground.

"Guys look, we knocked some of his feathers out," Luke noticed thoughtfully, before using the hand not holding onto Gavin to grab a handful of the feathers that were still strongly attached to his wing and saying, "Maybe we should pluck him too."

He then forcefully yanked.

Crippling, fiery agony laced through his wing and down his spine. 

'PainpainpainpainpainpAINPAINOHMAKEITSTOPPLEASEANYONEGODMAKEITSTO-'

A hand slammed down onto Gavin's mouth, deafening the distress cries he hadn't even realized he'd been making until that point. Looking down, he saw his bloody and mangled feathers scattered across the ground and felt sick to his stomach. He didn't even want to see what his wing looked like.

"That's not a bad idea," said the still nameless, goateed man who Gavin originally knocked over, as he slowly took his palm off of Gavin's mouth. "I have no problem plucking him like the turkey he is, but I don't want to go to jail, mate." He looked put out about it. "What should we do?"

Gavin closed his eyes and tried to tune out the men as they began to discuss what to do with him. He just hoped these guys lost interest soon because if not, he was in very real trouble. Serious attacks against hybrids still happened frequently enough that he knew of at least four 'hate crime related' hybrid deaths that were in the news this year. It was why most hybrids attempted to hide their status with hats or binders. A select few even had their traits removed to protect themselves. 'Assimilating meant Surviving' was a big hybrid motto.

A slap to the face interrupted Gavin's thoughts and forced his attention on his attackers. 

"Do I finally have your attention, freak?" Goatee got close to Gavin's face and grabbed his chin so he couldn't turn away. "Good, because I want you to understand something." 

He held up Gavin's I.D. and said, "I know all about you freak. I know your name, I know your address, and I know where you work. You are not going to tell anyone about this little get together because if you do, all your personal information is going to somehow end up online on an Anti-Hybrid forum, and those guys make us look like hybrid hugging hippies."

A cold sweat broke out all over Gavin's body, making him start to tremble. That threat carried real weight behind it. Goatee gave a nasty smile.

"I see you understand just what that would mean for you. You'd lose your home and your job. Those 'friends' would dump you to keep the company's good name intact. I don't know why Rooster Teeth hasn't dumped you yet because of the strain you cause those poor people."

"Shut up!" Gavin spat out, his anger at the unexpected words overriding his fear for a moment. "You don't fucking know anything-"

Another smack to the face silenced him.

"You forget that I've seen your videos, freak. You're a blight on that company, and they all know it. All the names they call you, all the times they manhandle or make fun of you aren't because they're 'playing' with you. Every way they choose to interact with you clearly shows how much they all want you gone. Even the people you are supposed to be close to say you are a fucking mistake."

Unbidden, a memory of Geoff saying almost those exact words numerous times to people about him came and made him want to vomit. Other memories of being yelled at, being called stupid, annoying, a fucking idiot crowded inside his head, causing it to ache. The words didn't seem like a joke anymore.

Even though Gavin knew what the dickhead in front of him was saying wasn't something he should trust, it still caused something inside of him to wither away and die because the very thought that his friends, that Geoff and Griffon, hated him hurt in a way beyond physical pain. 

"See, even you realize it now," murmured Goatee as he seemed to sense just how deep he cut the bird hybrid. He grabbed Gavin by his hair and gripped it tightly, tilting his head up. "You are a sin against nature, Gavin Free. You are a disease that needs fixed and if I didn't care about going to prison, I would be happy to cure you from it."

As he spoke, the man leaned down and picked up one of Gavin's bloody feathers, twirling it thoughtfully and staring at his wings.

"I think having those monstrosities removed would be your best bet. God, I wish we could've been the ones to do it. I would have-"

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

In an instant, the restricting hands on Gavin vanished. Now forced to hold up his body weight unaided, Gavin's legs gave out from under him almost immediately, and he hit the ground hard. He watched hazily as his attackers bolted down the street and disappeared around a corner. Only then did he realize that his breaths were coming out as wheezes.

While he was trying and failing to control his breathing, Gavin sensed someone come up beside him and reach for him. The new unknown person was trying to say something; however, it was coming out muffled to Gavin's panicked mind. In his fear and confusion, the Brit flinched away and attempted to wrap his wings around himself for protection.

"Gav hey Gavin, it's B," the voice said, cutting through the fog on his mind. Gavin lowered his wing and saw an extremely worried Dan looking at him.

"Th-they, I-I-I," Gavin attempted to say but was shaking so bad he couldn't get his words out.

"Shhh Gav," Dan soothed, carefully pulling his friend into a hug. He ran his fingers through Gavin's feathers, noticing a small bald patch on his wing. The area slowly oozed blood onto the surrounding feathers. "Shite Gav, what did they do to you?"

"They were h-hybrid haters," muttered Gavin, gripping Dan tight and hiding his face in the other hybrid's shirt. He couldn't stop shaking. "They knew who I was, B. I don't want to repeat it all but it was bad. For a second, I thought I was seriously screwed."

"Fucking bastard bigots," snarled Dan, his wolf temperament showing itself. "Whatever they said wasn't true, you know that right?"

"Sure thing, Dan," Gavin answered almost flippantly, before asking, "How did you know to come find me?"

Dan pulled away and helped the still spooked hybrid to his feet saying, "You said you would only be gone ten minutes and it's been at least half an hour." He shrugged. "I got worried."

Gavin fought the urge to grab Dan into another hug and just hang off of him.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, man," Gavin whispered, feeling for the first time in his adulthood the urge to cry. Swallowing hard, he fought against the swell emotion, stomping it down and forcing himself to grow cold. He wouldn't let this break him.

"You'll never have to know, Gavin," the wolf hybrid swore, taking his friend's hand with his own. "Let's go home."

Slowly, the two hybrids stumbled back towards Dan's house. As they neared the edge of Dan's property, a drop of rain landed on the tip Gavin's nose. Rubbing his face, he noticed a few more drops before the flood gates opened. Sputtering, the duo made a mad dash through the door and into the living room. After making it safely back, Dan went to get his medicine bag and some towels, while Gavin sat down on the couch and fumbled for his phone. The words of his attackers were echoing around his head. He needed to hear from his partners; he needed to know that what those bastards said wasn't true. 

As he turned on his phone, he saw that it was almost dead. Confused because he knew he had charged it just before leaving the house, he saw he had accidentally left a video playing earlier. Deciding to check it later, Gavin ignored it for now.

He quickly dialed Geoff's cellphone and it went straight to voice mail. Hanging up, Gavin then tried Griffon's phone and after four rings, he heard another voice mail. Disappointed and confused, he left a short, stiff message to have them call him.

'I don't get it; they always answer their phones,' Gav thought, worried. 'Maybe... maybe they saw it was me and didn't pick up.'

"I've got the bag, B," Dan said, interrupting Gavin's self-deprecating thoughts. He quickly sat down next to his friend and tossed him a blue towel, before carefully beginning to clean Gavin's wing up. It had stopped bleeding, thank Christ, but infection was always a possibility. Even though Gavin gave irritated huffs and twitches throughout the process, Dan was still able to wrap the small wound.

"How you feeling, Gav?"

"'M tired Dan," Gavin muttered, stifling a yawn and starting to droop over. Between the molt and the confrontation, all of his energy was used up. "I'm gonna go lay down soon, I think."

"I'm not sure that's the best thing right now," stated Dan as he finished bandaging the area and leaned into the bird hybrid's side, putting an arm over his shoulders. "I'm worried you might still be in shock; honestly, part of me wants to take you to the hospital."

"Bugger off Dan. I am not going to see any minging doctors."

"Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say," sighed the wolf man, closing his eyes. "I'm assuming the same goes for the police."

"You assume correctly," snapped Gavin, now peeved at the situation. He didn't want anyone to know about this. He could still handle himself, dammit, and it was no one's business but his own. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he forced himself to relax. This wasn't Dan's fault. "Let's just play Halo until I can go to sleep."

"We never had dinner," ventured Dan, gesturing toward the kitchen, "maybe you should eat something?" He finished with a question.

"Dude, I will vom everywhere if I eat now," warned Gavin, feeling his insides roll at the thought of food. "I'd rather play and eat in the morning."

Dan started up the Xbox and they halfheartedly played multiplayer until it started to get dark outside. Stretching out his arms and letting out a loud yawn, Gavin grumbled a goodnight to his friend before crawling into bed. Checking his phone, Gavin frowned and put it on his end table. He turned away from it and closed his eyes.

Neither Griffon nor Geoff had called him back.

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

Gavin spent his last three days in the U.K. working non-stop. He attempted to keep himself busy at all times because he soon learned any free time allowed him to dwell on the attack. He also learned that dwelling caused all his anxieties and insecurities to overtake him, and he felt like he would fall into a panic attack at any given time.

The Brit had to force himself to eat because the nauseous feeling from that day never left. Everything tasted dry and flavorless and his head was now constantly thumping due to, he believed, dehydration. As a bird, he didn't eat much on the best of days but now, his appetite was nonexistent.

Worst of all, Gavin had at this point given up all hope of sleeping well ever again. That first night after the attack kick-started a chain of nightmares that never seemed to leave him alone. Every time he drifted off into an exhausted sleep, he was instantly transported back to that day. To stay awake, he had started tripling his coffee intake to the point that his veins had to have been flowing with the stuff. 

Pretending he was okay was all he had at this point, but try as he might, he knew he wasn't hiding how bad he was doing to Dan. If Dan was slightly protective before, now he was in complete 'lock-down mode'. He wouldn't let his traumatized best friend out of his sight and was constantly on high alert for any falter by Gavin. Whenever it was looking like it was getting to be too much, Dan would grab the bird hybrid up and just hold him for a while until the jitters stopped. Every time they left the house, Dan would keep a low steady growl going under his breath anytime they were around other people. And while he did appreciate how good of a friend Dan was, there came a point where Gavin had to draw the line at sharing a bed.

That was why on the morning of Gavin's last day in England, he was alone in his room when he jolted awake with a cry. Shakily turning towards his alarm, Gav saw that he had only gotten two hours of sleep and let out a groan. He'd stayed up editing all of his videos until he couldn't see straight the night before. Rubbing his palm across his face, Gavin tried to remember what the nightmare had been about but all he could remember was the fear from it.

With a sigh, Gavin reached for his phone, hoping for any message from anyone at that point. He still hadn't heard from Geoff or Griffon, and every day that went by without a call or text made him feel a little bit worse about himself. Looking at his screen, Gavin was pleasantly surprised to see three new text messages.

 

__________

_Today at 3:03 a.m.  
From: My Boi  <3_

_What the fuck asshole! i came around for bevs when i got back and had to hear it from Geoff that you are in Bumfuck England! U ok boi_

_Today at 3:31 a.m.  
From: Burnie_

_Hey man we're all back in Austin and saw you were gone! What the hell?! We need to have a talk about communication Gav and about disappearing off the face of the earth!_

__________

 

Gavin winced at reading the texts, instantly realizing that he never actually let the two hybrids know he was going back to England for a week. The three of them made up their own little group in Austin. Because Burnie was considered higher-ranking by the other two, they mostly called the grouping their 'herd', and it was an unwritten rule in their herd to let everyone know where you were if it was out of town. Knowing them, Michael was probably pissed at him, while Burnie was most likely worried. 

'Memo to myself: text apologies to both of them later,' Gavin thought as he opened up the last text.

 

__________

_Today at 6:45 a.m.  
From: Geoffery LAZER_

_Sorry didn't call back. missed it and didn't check mssages until now cuz i fckng broke both my and Griffs phone and they were in th shop. u ok? Griff and i will pick u up at the airport today so let us kno when to get u_

___________

 

And in one text message, Gavin felt all of his uncertainties fall away.

'It was just a misunderstanding,' he thought, feeling foolish. 'I can't believe I got into my own head like that.' Feeling loads better, he got dressed and packed up everything for the flight back home. He brought everything out into the living room and went to the kitchen to wait for Dan. He put on a pot of coffee and plopped into the seat of the kitchen chair. Starting to feel tired again, he crossed his arms and used them to pillow his head on the table in front of him. Closing his eyes and relaxing, he could now hear Dan getting ready in the other room.

"You all packed up, B?" Dan asked as he entered the kitchen. Seeing that the coffee was finished brewing, he poured both of them a mug full and passed one to the lanky Brit. "How about some breakfast before ya go?"

"Nah," Gavin said wearily, before taking a large gulp of his burning hot lava drink. Realizing his mistake immediately, he fought the urge to spit his coffee all over the wolf hybrid in front of him.

Shaking his head at his idiot friend, Dan sighed and gave Gavin a look that instantly caused him to stiffen. He just knew he wasn't going to like the next words out of the wolf hybrid's mouth.

"Gav, I was thinking that maybe I should come back to Austin with you," he started, reaching forward to clasp Gavin's hand. "I'm so damn worried that you'll be by yourself, and I have some free time..."

Gavin really hated being right. He squeezed Dan's hand and looked him in the eyes, hoping that he appeared confident.

"Daniel, you've been amazing and I love you for it, but I'm fine."

"Gav, I hate to be the one to tell you this but you aren't that good of an actor. Plus I know you. As someone that both knows you and can see, I can tell that you are not fine."

Aaaand there went Gavin's good mood.

"Damn it B, I. Will. Be. Fine!" Gavin bit out each word a little too forcefully, letting go of Dan's hand to run his fingers through his feathers. It was a nervous habit of his and an obvious one, but he couldn't help it. "I would just really rather not broadcast what happened."

"Wait, what does that mean?" Dan questioned as he stood up. The man looked completely flabbergasted. "You're not-, I mean you can't be considering keeping this a secret, right?"

Recognizing his mistake, Gavin quickly backtracked.

"No, no, of course not," he soothed, as he lied through his teeth to his oldest friend. He had no intention of anyone finding out about the attack. He wasn't going to put his relationship with his friends and the company he worked so hard for in any kind of danger, especially over something so stupid.

Plus if they found out what had happened, a part of Gavin was genuinely worried that they might agree with his attackers; that maybe he wasn't worth the trouble.

"Dan, I'm just saying that I'm ready to go home and believe it or not, I don't need a nanny."

Making a face at the 'nanny' comment, Dan hesitated before saying cautiously, "Alright, if you are absolutely sure..."

Gavin stuck out his tongue, before saying, "I'm sure, 'Slo Mo Bro'." 

Dan threw a napkin at Gavin's face.

"Never call me that again, B."

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

The drive to the airport was quiet but comfortable. 

Gavin enjoyed watching England pass by his window. He really did love his home country, but he was so ready to be back in Austin.

Glancing away from the window to look at his friend, Gavin started to feel bad about how he reacted to Dan earlier. He didn't mean to snap at him, and he hated lying to Dan, but he didn't know what else to do. Turning back to the glass, he viciously stamped down the guilt. He was going home and getting back to his life.

As they pulled into the airport drop off area, Dan turned his full attention on Gavin.

"You'll call me when you land?" Came the quiet question. Dan had what Gavin called 'full-on sad puppy eyes' and his wolf ears were back against his head. He looked pitiful.

Looking at the wolf hybrid was enough for him to reply, "Sure will, Dan."

He could at least do that for his friend.

Gavin grabbed his suitcase and gave Dan a half-wave before going into the airport. Getting his bags checked and his first-class boarding pass checked was second nature at this point and was comfortably mind numbing enough to feel safe and easy. Glancing at a random clock hanging next to a sign, he saw he had about twenty minutes before they would start letting people onto the plane, so he took out his phone and sent out a quick text to Geoff with his arrival time. He then screwed around with his phone apps until he heard the 'now boarding' announcement over the intercom.

Gavin quickly made his way onto the plane and locating his seat, plopped onto it. He pulled out his phone to turn it off when suddenly, there was a shadow covering him.

"Oh no mother-fucking way," a woman's voice said and Gavin looked up. 

The voice belonged to a middle-aged woman in fairly expensive clothing. She had permanent scowl marks etched into her face and was frantically waving a flight attendant over. Her other hand was clutching at the wrist of a young, plump boy with red hair.

"What seems to be the problem, ma'am?" The flight attendant asked, looking a little harried but still smiling politely as she smoothed her hands down the front of her uniform uncomfortably.

"I'll tell you what the PROBLEM is," the woman exclaimed, forcefully jabbing her finger in Gavin's direction without looking at him. "I pay good money to sit comfortably with my son throughout my trip. I do not pay you people for me to then be forced to sit next to livestock."

Gavin saw that every passenger on the plane was looking at him and could feel himself turn bright red. He wished he could crawl under his seat.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry you feel that way," the attendant responded, no longer smiling as she skillfully got between the woman and Gavin. "However, we don't allow discrimination to dictate on whether someone has a right to first class, or any class for that matter."

"What are you, some sort of bleeding PETA activist!?" Screeched the woman. "I will not stand for this injustice. Look at his fucking huge wings! Those things take up so much damn space that it leaves normal people like me with no room. He could hurt my child with those monstrosities! Make him leave or I'm calling your manager!"

The flight attendant turned towards Gavin with a grimace and crouched down to his level. He could now read that her name-tag read 'Claire'.

"Sir, there are no other open seats and unfortunately, I can't kick her off for being a bitch," Claire the attendant murmured just out of the other woman's ear shot. "The options for you are to either fight this out with her, get another flight, or you can wear a binder just to keep her quiet. It's your choice."

A part of Gavin wanted to just fight this all the way and maybe if he wasn't already feeling so vulnerable, he would have. But a much bigger part of him just wanted to be with his family as soon as possible, so he took a deep breath and decided to suck it up.

"I'll wear the binder," he quietly responded. The words left a bad taste in his mouth. "I've never worn one though. I will need help putting it on."

"Don't worry love, I'll help," Claire said, before standing and turning towards the still fuming passenger.

"This gentleman has agreed to wear a binder, solely for your comfort I may add. I imagine your complaint has now been fixed, and you can now be seated."

"Fine", the woman huffed and left, yanking her son along after her.

Claire nodded before motioning Gavin to follow her. She led him up the stairs to the crew rest area on the plane and grabbing what Gavin thought must have been her bags, started to dig through them.

"You're so tiny that I hope it fits alright," she muttered to herself before pulling out a small binder.

"I didn't even notice; are you a hybrid too?" Gavin asked completely surprised as he took the offered binder.

Claire rubbed the side of her arm and looked down.

"No, I'm uh, I'm actually trans and in the process of hormone treatments and changes, but until then I still need a job. I'm still legally a woman and physically very feminine so I go with that."

"I'm sorry; that sucks," Gavin said as he wrapped his wings around his torso and they began to shove him into the constricting fabric. "So, what do you go by when you're not working?"

"I've just started going out as Cameron and my close friends use they/them pronouns for me, which is awesome." As they got behind Gavin to help with the binder, they seemed to pause, before carefully asking, "How supportive are the people around you?"

"My friends and family are great," Gavin said, getting everything situated correctly and not noticing Cameron glance sadly at his back. "It's just the bastards of the world being right pricks sometimes."

"That's why we outcasts of society need to stick together," they said matter-of-factly before turning to lead Gavin back to his seat.

"Hey man, just thanks so much," Gavin said. "I really appreciate it."

"Think nothing of it," they said, before their brows scrunched up. "And good luck sitting next to the hydra."

Somehow, Gavin forgot for a split second that he would still have to sit next to the ill-tempered female and let out a groan.

"Bugger me."

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

The plane ride was the most uncomfortable travel experience of Gavin's life. His shoulders hurt, his wings hurt, his back absolutely ached, and he couldn't figure out how to breathe correctly with the stupid binder wrapped around him. He was tired but refused to sleep because having a nightmare on the plane sounded terrible and the thought of filling his empty stomach with food made him want to gag. 

That didn't even account for the passengers.

Everyone kept looking at him. Whether it was short glances over the seat in front of him or full on stares from people behind him that thought they were safe in doing so, there were eyes on him constantly. As someone who was used to being surrounded by people at conventions, Gavin couldn't figure out why he was so stressed about it now. But he had to admit to himself that it was freaking him out.

His new friend Cameron stopped by once to see if Gavin wanted anything to snack on. He snagged a packet of crackers and proceeded to crumble them in the wrapper before sticking them in his pocket. Other than that and a few sympathy smiles in his direction, he was pretty much on his own.

The only thing he had going for him was that his seat neighbor was completely ignoring his existence. The little boy seemed curious, but the woman had her eyes fixed on the seat in front of her. Thankful for small mercies, Gavin put on and watched movie after movie until his brain went numb. After his third terrible romantic comedy, he finally heard through the speakers that they were about to land in Austin.

Gavin impatiently waited as they descended onto the runway. When it was finally time to disembark the plane, he quickly yanked his carry-on out of the squished pile above his head and went to find his flight attendant ally. After a minute of searching, Gavin found them making their rounds. He caught their eye and waved awkwardly.

"I uh, I don't think I can get it off by myself," he admitted as he scratched his head.

The attendant laughed at him and led Gavin back to the rest area. After efficiently removing the binder, Cameron handed it to Gavin and said, "I have another binder that fits me better than that one. You keep it, but only if you're sure."

He looked at the constricting device and felt conflicted. He never needed one before today and a large part of him was ashamed that he let himself be forced to change who he is. The reasonable part of him; however, recognized that there was a safety in wearing the fabric that he wouldn't find anywhere else. 

'And just because I take it doesn't mean I have to wear it. It's just a safety precaution.'

"Thanks," said Gavin as he took back the binder and shoved it into his bag. "Good luck with everything mate." 

"You too."

And with that, Gavin quickly made his way out of the plane and after collecting his luggage, sped through to the main part of the airport. Finding an empty seat, he fished his phone out of his pocket to see where Geoff was. He quickly sent out a text and almost instantly got a response.

 

____________

_Today at 2:54 p.m._

_From: Geoffery LAZER  
boo_

____________

 

Gavin barely read the word before he felt something grab him from behind and lift him up. His wings were pinned to his back in an awkward position and as he felt himself being lifted into the air, he was instantly back in England with his aggressors. He began to struggle against his captor. Fear rose up in his throat and just before he let out what he knew would be a blood-curdling scream, he was suddenly free.

"Dickhead, it's me; calm down," came a very familiar voice and Gavin spun around to see a smiling Geoff Ramsey. Along with the smile, Geoff had a worried tilt to his brow and had his arms open for a hug but in the face of the British man's fear, was starting to lower them. 

Gavin didn't give him that chance.

"Geoff," breathed Gavin, before rushing into Geoff's arms and wrapping his limbs completely around him. He noticed his fingers shaking against the back of Geoff's t-shirt and clutched at him tighter to try and hide it. He felt the older man's hands rub against Gav's back in a soothing motion and finally began to let himself relax. 

'As long as I'm with Geoff, I'm safe,' he thought decisively.

He could feel the mustached man shift in his grip, and he suddenly realized how long he had been holding onto him and knew that the man must've been uncomfortable. 

"Good God, it's like I got a little leech attached," Geoff said in a joking manner.

"You are a right bastard," said Gavin, trying to match the same tone as his partner's while feeling stung. He knew that it had been a joke, but he was a little too much like glass at the moment to handle it properly. In the end, that hurt feeling was what helped Gavin let go of Geoff's torso.

"Aw, you know I wuv you," said Geoff, making a kissy face as he went to pick up Gavin's suitcase. The man took one step before Gavin panicked.

"Wait!"

Geoff stopped and turned back around to Gavin, not hiding his confusion. "Gav, are you alright buddy?" He asked, his worry now bleeding through to his voice.

'Fuck, what the hell is my problem?' Gavin thought. 'I'm buggering it all up!'

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Gavin answered with a forced smile as he ran a finger through his feathers. "Sorry 'bout that. Trip's made me a bit loopy or somethin'."

Geoff watched Gav fidget with his feathers before shrugging and picking up the suitcase.

"Alright man, if you say so," he said. He draped his arm across Gavin's shoulders and they began to make their way to the exit.

"So where's Griffon?" Gavin questioned after realizing the blonde woman wasn't anywhere to be seen. He felt the tips of Geoff's fingers scratch lightly at the nape of his neck and let out a quiet noise that he refused to call a coo.

"She wanted to finish up one of her carvings before we got home," Geoff replied. "One of the museums is doing some kind of exhibit showing different Austin artists. She carved a massive as dicks totem for the thing."

"That's pretty bloody cool! How come you guys didn't tell me before now?" exclaimed the Brit as they walked to the car.

"Dude, we were both working our asses off, and you were working just as hard I'm sure," at that point, Geoff stopped and clasped the younger man's shoulders and gave him a hard look. "You were supposed to rest while on your 'special time' but instead, you look all beat to hell. Do I need to hire a traveling dog-catcher to go and fuck up Dan's shit?"

Gavin let out a slightly uncomfortable laugh. 

"Nah Geoffrey, it was just a bit of a rough molt is all," he said flippantly as he poked Geoff in the gut with his pointer finger, causing the gent to let out a small puff of air. "Please don't go after Dan. Speaking of which, I was supposed to call him when I landed in Austin."

Gavin dislodged himself from Geoff and climbed into the car, pulling out his phone and sending a text as he settled in the seat. He saw Geoff out of the corner of his eye stare at Gavin, before rolling his eyes and releasing a loud sigh. He picked up the lad's luggage off the ground and muttering to himself, packed it into the trunk of the car.

"Lazy piece of shit," Geoff grumbled as he plopped behind the steering wheel.

"What are you on about?" remarked Gavin as he put his phone away. "You were just telling me how I overwork myself and should take a break." He didn't need a mirror to know he had a shit-eating grin leveled at Geoff. "I'm just taking your advice."

"Brat," was the fond reply as they made their way home. 

Gavin cranked the air conditioning up as they traveled through the Austin heat and played games on his phone. After a few minutes of silence, the hybrid began to feel nervous again and without making a conscious decision to, he reached out and grasped Geoff's free hand with his own.

'Stupid, stupid, why did I do that?' Gavin thought to himself. He kept his eyes firmly on his lap but could hear a shifting sound next to him and feel Geoff glance at him for a second, before going back to the road. He could just about kick himself. He was trying to hide something and instead, he was acting all weird and clingy and panicky. 

"Gav?"

"I'm sorry," he blurted out, while attempting to unclench his hand from his moustached partner. "I uh, I think I am just really, really knackered."

Geoff squeezed his hand and used his fingers to play with Gavin's.

"No need to be sorry," Geoff said softly, his eyes trained on the road ahead. "I can tell you're pretty damn tired, so how 'bout we get home and make today just a really lazy day?"

"That sounds top. Thanks Geoff." 

Gavin felt another squeeze and looked up to see Geoff's smile at him. He squeezed back.

"Sure bud."

The rest of the ride was filled with the radio lightly playing and sounds of the cool air flowing through the front of the car. Geoff continued to toy with Gavin's hand by running his finger down the back or lightly gripping a digit before letting go and moving to the next one. The movements were so calming to Gavin that he almost drifted off in the car. He felt weightless by the time they pulled into the driveway of their home.

"Wakey wakey, Gavvy," Geoff sing-songed as he shut off the car and let go of Gavin's hand. He got out of the car to grab the suitcase and waited as Gavin slowly made his way out of the vehicle. 

They walked up the drive and Gavin stepped in front of Geoff to open the door. He walked two steps into the house and heard a shout of "Gav!" before finding himself knocked back into Geoff, who proceeded to lose his footing. With a shout, they all landed in a heap.

"Oh shit, shit, shit," said a voice from on top of Gavin. He opened his eyes and looked up to see the very embarrassed face of Griffon Ramsey an inch from his face. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and her torso was smashed into his. She looked so frazzled, and Gavin was all of a sudden filled with overwhelming affection for this woman. He lifted his head and brushed his lips over hers.

"Okay, what the fuck guys, REALLY?!"

The two broke away and looking down saw that they were sprawled across a very red Geoff. He was obviously pinned to the ground and looked extremely uncomfortable. He had Gav's luggage jammed under his knee and an arm lodged behind his back. He was also spitting out one of Gavin's feathers that must have come off during the fall.

"You ok, Geoffrey?" asked Gavin, settling his weight on the older man.

"Why yes, Gavino. I am doing so very well," he answered, sarcasm oozing through every syllable. "I am flat on my back outside with my two partners, one with big ass wings and one that's just an asshole, making out on top of me! I am absolutely tickled pink, Gavin. Now, get the hell off!" As he started to yell, Geoff began to thrash until he was able to unseat the Brit and his wife, who at this point were laughing too hard to be of any help. Breathing hard, Geoff picked himself up and stomped into the house.

"Oh my God, I've missed you," said Gavin as he stopped laughing to just grin at the blonde.

"Sweetie, I missed you too," Griffon said, smiling softly before admitting, "It's just never the same when you're away for a long time. Geoff and I turn into mopey, old people. I don't want to be mopey and old."

"You aren't old; you're lovely," Gavin frowned, before fake sighing. "Unfortunately, it's too late for Geoffrey."

"I heard that, cocksucker!"

Griffon let out an unladylike snort before helping herself up and offering Gavin a hand up.

"C'mon, let's go see what the old goat is up to," she whispered jokingly, using their nickname for Geoff.

Gavin and Griffon followed the disgruntled noises to the kitchen, where Geoff was unhappily pulling out different ingredients. He appeared to still be in a snit. Griffon deftly slid herself between the man and the kitchen counter. She coyly tweaked his moustache and went for a kiss.

"Don't be a sour puss, babe," Griffon sweetly murmured against his lips. She stuck her hand down the back of his pants and gave a squeeze.

"Fucking minx," Geoff rasped before deepening the kiss. He slid his hands down her body before letting them rest on her hips.

Gavin watched his older partners make out and for the first time in a while, thought maybe he should give them privacy. A week ago, he would have firmly planted himself in the middle of the action but now, he didn't feel anywhere near as confident. Geoff and Griffon were married for God's sake, and watching them now move together, Gavin couldn't see where he had fit before. It didn't look like there was any space for him. 

The couple broke apart and with a small peck, they turned towards Gavin.

"Well, what are you doing all the way over there dumbass?" Geoff asked, his hands still on his wife's hips. 

Still feeling a bit unsure, Gavin quickly came up with an excuse that he should unpack his things and make sure all of his footage survived the trip. He then swiftly made his way to his bedroom, not noticing the confused look that passed between the Ramseys.

 

________________________________________________________________________________

 

Dinner that evening was filled with work stories, from both Geoff and Griffon. Griffon talked excitedly about the piece she was doing for the museum, pulling out her phone to show Gavin a picture of an enormous totem pole. The totem was made up three gigantic animals. On the base was a Bighorn sheep with half-lidded eyes, the middle had some sort of vulture with big eyelashes, and the very top had what suspiciously looked like a lark with it's wings open. Griffon explained that it was her new favorite and after the show, she was going to keep it in the backyard.

After Griffon put her phone away, Geoff spoke up, bemoaning the fact that both Gavin and Michael had left him to the cruelty of the other Achievement Hunters. Waving his arms around to get his point across, he complained that the Minecraft Building Team went completely overboard with a game idea and now he didn't know if it was even doable at this point. He'd had to quickly pull an idea out of his ass to cover for it.

"Also, I now hate the other gents," Geoff said, stabbing at his potatoes with his fork.

"God, he has been a baby about this for days," Griffon muttered, before taking a swig of her beer.

"What happened with Beardo and Rye-bread?" asked Gavin, as he scraped his fork against his plate. He still wasn't hungry and couldn't help playing with his food.

"Those mother-fuckers tag teamed me in a Let's Play a couple days ago," whined the tattooed man. "Threatening their jobs didn't stop them from killing me over and over, so now, I'm not their friend anymore."

Gavin and Griffon laughed in Geoff's indignant face.

"You are big, dumb jerks and I-."

"So Gavin, what did you and Dan get up to when you weren't working?" Griffon asked the lad, changing the subject away from her grumpy husband. 

Gavin unconsciously stiffened and his wings shifted uncomfortably.

"Nothing special. We played video games." He replied carefully. He quickly forced himself to take several bites of food before pushing the plate away. "I need to get all of the videos from England transferred to a USB drive for Burnie to sort through. I'll see you guys later on."

Gavin almost sprinted to their shared office space, happy to escape the situation. He got his phantom footage up and downloading, barely checking anything other than they had the correct dates. He was just too tired to do anything else. Seeing that things were plugging along nicely, he suddenly remembered that he also had a few short slow motion clips on his phone. Glancing at his phone and seeing several videos, he quickly added them to the list for Burnie to look through.

As everything transferred to an extremely high powered USB, Gavin felt the days of lackluster sleep catch up with him. Yawning, he saw that it was still really early for the three of them to go to sleep, but he was beat. With a full body stretch, he left the computer to it's job and went to find his Ramseys. He found the couple playing Peggle 2 in the living room.

"Hey I'm really sorry, but I'm feeling absolutely mullered. I think I'm gonna head to bed," said Gavin as he rubbed at his face.

"Poor sleepy British boy," Geoff practically cooed as he stood up. He sauntered over and after grasping his hand, began to slowly lead Gavin to the bedroom.

"Wait a minute; you guys don't have to-"

"Don't be a jackass," Griffon stated, walking past the men and turning off the game system. "We haven't seen you in a week, little bird. We are coming too." 

The threesome entered their bedroom and began to strip out of their clothes. As Gavin lifted his shirt over his head, he felt a hand tentatively touch his back. The touch was gentle but his back was unexpectedly sore and the contact caused him to flinch away.

"Jesus Christ, Gavin," breathed Griffon, putting her hand down. "Your back is black and blue."

"What the fuck happened in England?!" Geoff exclaimed, turning Gavin around. He slightly pressed at the injury with his fingers, causing Gavin to let out a hiss through clenched teeth.

"I didn't even know that was there," said Gavin honestly. He walked over to a mirror, turned so his back was facing it, and craning his neck, looked at himself. He could now see what had the duo so freaked out. 

On Gavin's back, just under where his wings connect to his skin, there was a dark purple bruise that spanned from one side of his body to the other. It looked like someone beat the hell out of him.

'It must have been from being slammed against the fence,' Gavin thought to himself, wincing as he began to prod at it. 'I'm sure having the binder on for as long as I had didn't help matters.'

"Stop messing with it, idiot," Geoff snapped at the younger man, turning Gavin back around to face him. His eyes were completely serious. "So you're telling us that have no clue how that happened?"

"I'm telling you, I didn't even realize it was there!" Gavin evaded the question by giving Geoff a peck on the lips and climbing on the bed. Seemingly letting it go, Geoff and Griffon followed and quickly bracketed the hybrid between them. Geoff slung an arm across Gavin's waist, while Griffon tangled her legs with the lad's. Gavin was on his stomach and as his partners got comfortable, he slowly lowered his wings onto the sheets. 

"You need to be more careful, Gav," Griffon softly murmured.

"I'll try," he replied, just as quietly.

"Did you turn on the air conditioning to high?" Geoff asked his wife, missing the conversation between the two. He started trailing small kisses down Gavin's neck and making him squirm. The threesome all knew by this point that the Brit was too ticklish to really enjoy the act and that Geoff was probably doing it just to be a ponce.

"Of course I did. Gav's feathery butt will roast us otherwise," she replied as she reached over to playfully smack at Geoff. 

"Ow, what was that for?!"

"That was for being a pest," smirked Griffon. "Now, our boy is tired. Leave him alone and let him sleep."

Grumbling about vulture-wives, Geoff backed off and turned on his side, leaving Gavin to his thoughts. 

Gavin felt a small ache in his chest when Griffon said that about his wings but was relieved when she followed up with calling him 'our boy'. He wished his insides would realize that when his partners picked on him, they were just kidding. He hated being sensitive about everything. 

Closing his eyes, Gavin decided he would try to work on it tomorrow. He let himself relax and quickly fell asleep.

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

_Gavin was terrified._

_He had no clue where he was or how he got there. All he knew was that for some reason, he was in restraints that were connected to a metal table. He was face first on the cold surface and his arms felt stretched to the point of pain. The room he was trapped in looked like a hospital or a laboratory, and everything about the room he now found himself in was sterile looking. There were other stainless steel benches and tables surrounding him and everything looked to be untouched. Empty glass bottles and medical equipment lined the shelves and the overhead fluorescent lights above him burned his retinas._

_Suddenly the silence of the room was broken, and he heard the sound of a door slamming open and multiple footsteps entering. Gavin struggled to turn his head towards the people coming in. He could now see three individuals that were dressed in surgeon scrubs and wearing masks over their faces. He couldn't make out their identities. They were opening shelves and pulling different items out. They set the items on the table just out of Gavin's line of sight and walked towards him._

_Gavin opened his mouth to ask them what the fuck was going on, but no words came out. For some unknown reason, he couldn't make a sound._

_Two of the strangers positioned themselves in front of him and all Gavin could do was mouth 'please let me go'. They seemingly ignored his plea and instead stared at him as they brought their hands up and took off their masks._

_Gavin's breath hitched. Staring back at him with cold eyes, were Geoff and Griffon._

_"We are going to fix you now," they spoke in-sync, their tone monotonous as they looked at him._

_Gavin felt the palm of the other masked person slam onto his back and cup the base of one of his wings. The touch shocked him and renewed his attempt to escape. His wings were flapping sluggishly as he strained against the hand and the thought came to his mind that maybe he was drugged. Even with the slow movement; however, he was somehow able to shift his body enough that he could see behind him. He jolted back in terror._

_The Goateed man from his attack was leaning over him. In the hand not gripping Gavin's wing he held an amputation saw. "I never got to tell you how I'd get rid of these," the man sneered as he brought the saw up and placed it where wing and torso met. "How 'bout I just show you?"_

_And suddenly, Gavin could scream._

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

"-av, what's wrong baby, Gavin WAKE UP-"

Gavin felt someone's hands shake his shoulders and was instantly awake. Panicked and rendered blind by his fear, he struck out with his wings. The appendages connected with something, and he saw the shadow of a person hit the ground with a shout.

"GAVIN, FOR FUCK'S SAKE, STOP!" A second voice roared, cutting through his hysteria. Gavin was unexpectedly lurched forward and abruptly found himself in the arms of his mustached partner. He could feel the man rub his back and could now hear everything else he was saying.

"Shh, Gav. It was just a dream, and it's ok now. Quiet, Gavin, quiet darling."

Gavin was confused by Geoff's words for a split second, but after becoming more aware, he realized he was making distressed bird vocalizations. He had been loudly chirping and didn't even know it. He quickly forced himself to stop.

"Ok Gavin, that's good," another voice soothed, and Gavin turned his head in the direction of the words without seeing anyone.

"She's on the ground," Geoff explained, before calling out slight louder, "Griff, you alright hun?"

"I'm fine," Griffon replied as she slowly stood up and got back on the bed. "How's Gavin?"

"He's-"

"Why was Griffon on the floor?" Gavin interrupted Geoff, feeling himself come back to his senses completely.

"You knocked her to the floor with your wings," Geoff explained, picking up the bird hybrid's hands and playing with his fingers. "You just started screaming, Gav, and Griffon tried to wake you. She was talking to you and you flipped the fuck out."

Gavin was horrified. "I- Guys, I am so, so sorry," Gavin burst out anxiously, upset at what he'd done. 'I could've really fucking hurt Griffon. Hell, I could hurt both of them with these things.' He swallowed against a lump in his throat and turned to Griffon, pulling away from Geoff in the process. "Griffon, you know I'd never, ever hurt you right?"

"Baby, I know. It was just an accident, ok?" Griffon reassured, leaning forward to cup Gavin's cheek. 

"Maybe I should go sleep on the couch tonight," ventured the lad, still wracked with guilt. "Or I could go back to my little house and let you guys sleep." 

"No fuckin' way," said Geoff resolutely, body language showing he wouldn't give an inch. 

"Gavin, we are not sending you off to be alone and miserable after a nightmare. Especially one that made you react like that," Griffon said, firmly agreeing with her husband.

For a second, Gavin thought back to his dream and of the fake Ramseys. 'We are going to fix you,' his mind repeated and Gavin couldn't help but shudder. He really didn't want to sleep alone. All he wanted was for his partners to be safe. 

'If only I had something that would keep my wings under control...' Gavin pondered before having a light bulb moment. He fucking had something that would make everything better.

Gavin quickly scrambled off the bed and finding his suitcase, began to rummage through it. He vaguely heard Geoff ask him something in a confused tone but chose to ignore at as he located his prize. Clenching his fist in the fabric, Gavin pulled out his new binder.

"A friend gave this to me to wear in case I needed it," Gavin said, plopping back on the bed and showing the Ramseys the item. "I will only stay here tonight if I get to wear this, just to be sure I don't accidentally hurt someone."

"Gavin, how long have you had this?" Griffon asked confusedly, reaching out her hand and fingering the fabric. "I never even knew you had one of these."

"I've only had it for like a day," Gavin said, obviously flustered before admitting, "I had to wear it on the flight back to Austin because a woman became upset about sitting next to me."

"Mother-fucking scum of the earth," snarled Geoff, punching a pillow.

"It's really ok Geoffrey," the hybrid said defensively, thinking back to his attack. "There are always worse things."

"Still, we are so sorry that happened," Griffon said, before taking the binder from Gavin. "I'm sure you'll need help putting it on."

"You are not wrong, Griff."

Gavin and Griffon forcefully shoved and yanked Gavin into the binder, with Geoff on the sidelines laughing at their struggle. After getting stuck once, they figured it out and got the constricting fabric situated. They then flipped off Geoff.

The three partners got back into position and absolutely exhausted, were almost instantly asleep.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

The next morning, Gavin felt like he had a hangover. His back hurt from wearing the binder through the night and his head was killing him. 

Griffon again had to help him with the binder, and Gavin tossed it in the closet, glad to be rid of it for the day. The blonde gave him a kiss to the cheek, before heading in the direction of the backyard.

Gavin extended his wings and stretched out his sore muscles, instantly feeling better. He quietly got dressed and looking at their bedside alarm clock, saw he had a little bit of time before work.

The lad stepped into the kitchen, made a light breakfast and poured himself a glass of juice. For the first time in a while, his stomach didn't hurt, and Gavin was going to take advantage of his happy tummy and actually eat something. 

With two slices of toast hanging from his mouth, and his hands carrying his drink and an apple, Gavin carefully walked to their office. He placed his breakfast on his desk and quickly started up the computer from sleep mode. Munching on his toast, he saw that all of his footage had downloaded safely. Gavin let out a sigh of relief before taking another bite.

"Everything good, Gav?" Geoff said as he entered the office, surprising Gavin and causing the lad to choke mid-chew. 

"You scared the piss out of me, you bastard!" Gavin said between hacking coughs. He took a big gulp of his OJ and was finally able to get control of his breathing.

Geoff showed his maturity by sticking his tongue out. "Better hurry up bud. We got to leave for work in like ten minutes," the gent said, ruffling Gavin's hair as he walked past.

"Yeah, yeah," Gavin muttered, quickly scarfing down his toast and juice and deciding to leave the apple for later. Swiping the flash drive, he followed Geoff out to the car and left for work.

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

Walking into the Rooster Teeth building after being gone so long felt like coming home. Gavin felt something inside himself settle. Rooster Teeth had always been a safe place for the bird hybrid; ever since he was fourteen years old, the company had been everything to him. Some days, he was still blown away that he worked here, that he lived here, and that he had friends here.

Turning a corner and seeing a familiar silhouette, Gavin felt his lips curl into a smile.

"Michael, my boi!" he said happily, getting the attention of the cat hybrid.

"Gavvy, my moron," Michael said sarcastically, before dropping the act and pulling Gavin in for a surprise hug. 

Gavin couldn't help but flinch, but quickly tried to play it off. "Oi, watch them claws, you silly donut!"

"I didn't claw you, idiot," protested the Jersey lad. He let go and gave Gavin a once-over. He apparently didn't like what he saw because the next words out of his mouth were, "Jesus Gav, you look like horse shit."

"Why does everyone keep telling me that?" Gavin said, mildly outraged.

"Because it's true," Michael huffed, before saying, "Is everything all right, man? I mean, you'd tell me or Burnie if something was wrong, right?" His ears were flat against his head and his tail was stiff. 

Guilt filled back up because Gavin knew he was going to have to lie to his friend. He opened his mouth, not really sure what he was going to say when the two hybrids were interrupted by a Puerto Rican menace.

"Vav, the dynamic duo is back in order!" Ray said, bumping shoulders with the Brit. He turned his attention to both hybrids and said, "Geoff told me to tell you that it's time to work. He also might've called you assholes."

"Dick," Gavin said fondly, before falling into step with Ray and heading towards the Achievement Hunter office. He felt Michael's stare follow him the entire time and tried to ignore it.

"Welcome back, Gavin," Jack Pattillo said, catching sight of him entering and giving him a wave. The gent was fixing the microphones to get ready to record a Let's Play and looked a little stressed.

Gavin silently waved back and made his way to his desk, passing Ryan and poking him in the back of the head as he walked.

"Hmm?" Ryan hummed confusedly, before taking off his headphones and turning around. "Oh it's you; good to see you Gavin." Sliding back on his headphones, the Mad King got back to work.

Gavin dropped into his chair and let out a sigh. He booted up his computers and watched out of the corner of his eye as Michael got to his desk and did the same.

"Alright guys!" Geoff came careening into the room, voice cracking all over the place in his excitement. "Achievement Hunter is all back together so you know what that means! Go ahead, Ray!"

"Dude, no."

"Ray, I am your boss and I'm happy. Don't cock-block my happiness."

"Argh, fine." A pause and then a deep breath. "LLLLLLLLET'S PLAY!"

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

On the surface, the Let's Play went really well. It had been a while since everyone was in the office and the flow just felt right. The jokes seemed to be on point and the game, a new shooter for the pc none of them had ever heard of, was kick ass. Everyone was at their best.

Except Gavin.

He couldn't find the same rhythm that everyone else was on. He wasn't terrible and in fact, was pretty passable, but he didn't want to be just passable in a video. His problem seemed to be that he was too quiet for long stretches of time before realizing it and then panicking with a stupid comment. It caused a few laughs and light ribbing, but he was really beginning to wonder if he was starting to get on his co-workers nerves. He really hated being the weak link and the quick glances from both Michael and Geoff every few minutes didn't reassure him that he was doing well.

As soon as the video finished recording, Gavin tried to find an excuse to get away from his desk and his nosy friends for a little while. Digging through his stuff, he spotted his flash drive and remembered that the videos needed to be brought to Burnie today. He cleared his throat awkwardly, getting everyone's attention.

"I forgot that I uh, need to give Burnie my footage from while I was gone, so he could, you know, go over it and stuff," fumbled Gavin, playing with his feathers nervously. "So, I'm uh, I'm gonna go. Bye!" With that odd goodbye finished, Gavin bolted. 

The lanky Brit sprinted past some animators loudly talking about a new idea for RWBY. He ignored their stares and made his way around a corner, nearly knocking into Joel in the process. Yelling out an apology to the perplexed man, Gavin didn't slow down until he reached Burnie's office. 

Skidding to a stop and almost toppling in the process, Gavin took a deep breath before knocking on the Bison hybrid's door and entering the room.

Burnie was at his desk and talking on the phone but as soon as he noticed Gavin, he quickly muttered something to the person on the other line and hung up.

"Welcome back, bird brain!" Burnie said, glancing behind Gavin almost nervously before giving the lad his full attention. "I heard you have something for me?"

"Hullo to you too, Burnie," Gavin said as he pulled the flash drive out of his pocket. It took a second to fully realize what the man had said, but once he processed it, he became a little suspicious. "What- who told you I was coming? Because I certainly didn't-"

"I called him, feather butt," came the wheezy voice of Michael directly behind him. The cat hybrid was breathing heavy and his face was red from keeping pace with Gavin

"Why did you call him, Michael?" Gavin asked, extremely confused.

Michael shut the office door, crossed his arms as he leaned against it, and said, "You might have most of the others fooled but you didn't fool Geoff and you can't fool me. Something has got you wired so fucking tight, you could make a diamond out of a piece of coal, and you weren't like this before the herd leader," he said pointing at Burnie, "and I left town."

"Michael called and told me some things that concerned me, Gavo," Burnie butted in, standing up and reminding Gavin that his boss had been on the phone when he arrived. "You look like a gust of wind could blow you over and a molt has NEVER left you looking like that, so don't even try it," he rebuffed when Gavin opened his mouth to make the obvious excuse.

"Listen boi, I've seen the look that you have in people I knew back at home. Hybrids." Michael clarified, before explaining, "It's the look of someone that feels cornered. When prey hybrids get shit close to danger, their instincts go nuts, and sometimes the person needs help getting things settled afterwards."

"Nothing happened!" Gavin bit out as his feathers puffed up in frustration. He dropped his USB stick on Burnie's desk and eyed the door, wondering if he could shove his way through.

"Don't even think about it, bird boy," sneered Michael, allowing a little fang to show.

"Gavin, please talk to us," Burnie pleaded walking to the other hybrid and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "We are a herd; a self-made hybrid family and both Michael and I are greatly disturbed that you are hurting. Please let us help you, buddy."

"I DON'T WANT YOUR HELP, AND I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS!" Gavin all but screeched. He brushed the hand off of him and began to pace.

"Gavin-"

"No, you know what? Fuck you guys. I came here to drop off all of my hard work and was ambushed by you lot and I'm pissed," said Gavin aggressively, continuing to walk back and forth. "I just got back from hell and I didn't expect an inquisition from everyone the second I got back to America."

"No one ever expects the inquisition," Michael jokes weakly, ears back at the sight of his friend's anger. 

"Gav, why did you say being in England was 'hell'?" The bison hybrid cautiously asked. "Do I need to contact Dan to find out what is up with you?"

That comment broke through Gavin's tirade and instantly made him freeze. He couldn't let that happen.

'They won't let me go if I don't come up with something,' he thought to himself. He quickly decided that a small truth would be better than a big lie. 

"I did have a bit of a problem while in England but it's already been dealt with. I also got almost no sleep last night," he explained, hoping that this would work. "I'm still under the weather from the molt and the trip as well but I'll be right as rain in a few days, you'll see."

Burnie and Michael looked at each other. 

"I guess we should give him the benefit of the doubt," stated Michael tentatively, sounding unsure.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Gavin said, irritated.

"Thank you for talking with us," Burnie said, turning back to Gavin and giving him a friendly nudge. "I'm sorry that we pressured you, but your health is important. I'll look over your videos tonight and let you know what I think." He looked over the lad again and let out a sigh. "With how you look, I can't believe Geoff even brought you in. Go find someone to drive you home."

"But Burnie-!"

"I can do it," interrupted Michael.

The bison hybrid nodded in approval. "Thanks, I'll go ahead and let Geoff know."

"Burnie, I really think you're being ridiculous," complained the lanky lad as he was shuffled out of the office by his two co-workers.

"Go home. Eat and go to sleep. That's an order, Gavino."

Grumbling, Gavin followed Michael out to his car and slid in. He fumbled with the seat belt and after getting comfortable, faced the window to ignore the cat hybrid. He was still angry at the Jersey lad for tattling on him to the mother hen of Rooster Teeth. He gritted his teeth as Michael started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

The entire ride home was tense and silent. Gavin spent the time playing games on his phone and checking twitter updates and trying desperately to ignore how awkward not talking was.

The vehicle pulled into the Ramseys drive way and Gavin pocketed his phone and began to open his door when he felt something brush against his wing. He stopped and turned around to see the cat hybrid lightly touching and staring at his wing oddly. The cat hybrid suddenly looked completely devastated and dropped his hand.

"Um, Michael?" Gavin asked, now worried. Even as mad as he was, he didn't want to hurt his friend. 'Maybe I went too far with ignoring him. He looks so upset now.'

"I know you are pissed off and maybe you have a right to be. I don't fucking know," Michael said quietly, his tail thumping back and forth. "I do know one thing, though. You are my best fucking friend in the whole damn world and I will do anything to make sure you are ok." He cleared his throat and held out his fist. "Team Nice Dynamite?"

"Silly donut," Gavin said hoarsely around the lump he now had in his throat. He swallowed hard and bumped his fist against Michael's. "Team Nice Dynamite."

 

____________________________________________________________________________

 

As soon as Michael left to go back to work, Gavin shuffled into the kitchen and made himself a sandwich. He dropped onto the couch and pulling up Netflix, played an old rerun of 'Always Sunny' while he slowly ate. 

He kept thinking back to Michael's face and how upset the lad had looked. He still had no clue what had gotten that reaction from the normally boisterous lad, but decided to drop it. He never could tell what the other was thinking, even on his best days.

Stretching, Gavin stood up and went in search of Griffon. The blonde woman usually did her chainsaw art while the boys were gone, but he hadn't heard any sounds of her carving when he had been outside. Gavin found himself peeking into several rooms before thinking to check the bedroom. Once he got to their bedroom, he saw the light was off and disappointed, almost passed it completely, before hearing heavy breathing coming from inside.

In the middle of the bed and snoring in a cute way was Griffon. She was on her back fast asleep with her arms sprawled out like a starfish. The blonde must have been exhausted to fall asleep like that.

Gavin let out a squeaky giggle and tiptoed into the room. He dug through the closet and quickly found his binder. Biting his lip, he considered waking Griffon up to help him put it on before deciding even he wasn't that big of a jerk.

'She's already knackered because I woke her up last night,' he thought, guiltily looking at his partner. 'Besides, I should be able to figure this out myself.'

Gavin went into the hallway and after fighting with the fabric for an embarrassingly long time, he got everything situated. Feeling proud of himself, he went back to the bedroom and carefully shifted Griffon enough that he could get into bed next to her. She made an unhappy noise but after Gavin quietly shushed her, she calmed and went right back to sleep. 

Gavin closed his eyes and swiftly joined her.

 

_______________________________________________________________________

 

Gavin was jolted awake by the sound of someone forcefully knocking on the front door. Turning his head towards the clock, he saw it was 3:41 a.m. and let out a groan. He flopped back onto his pillow and realizing he was alone in the bed, decided he'd let someone else answer the door.

Apparently his lazy plan worked because as soon as Gavin got resettled on the bed, he heard someone open the door. Pleased, Gavin closed his eyes and was just starting to drift back to sleep when he heard several raised voices. The voices sounded concerned and upset and at least one of them was definitely not his lovers'.

Groggy and confused, Gavin slowly crawled out of bed and yanked the binder off. He stretched out his wings and still clutching the fabric, yawned and walked towards where he thought the commotion was. The yelling had stopped but other sounds were coming from the living room. He shuffled around the corner saw Burnie, Geoff and Griffon crowded around a computer. He opened his mouth to ask what they were doing up.

 

_"-derstand just what that would mean for you. You'd lose your home and your job. Those 'friends' would dump you to keep the company's good name intact. I don't know why Rooster Teeth hasn't dumped you yet because of the strain you cause those poor people."_

 

Gavin's words died in his throat, and his hand relaxed it's grip on the binder, letting it drop to the floor. His vision blurred, and he unconsciously stumbled into the room. 

 

_"You forget that I've seen your videos, freak. You're a blight on that company, and they all know it. All the names they call you, all the times they manhandle or make fun of you aren't because they're 'playing' with you. Every way they choose to interact with you clearly shows how much they all want you gone. Even the people you are supposed to be close to say you are a fucking mistake."_

 

'He's here. Oh my God he's here, and he's going to kill me.' Overwhelming fear slammed into his chest and suddenly, Gavin couldn't breathe. He tried to gasp but his lungs refused to move in either direction. He didn't know how, but his attacker had found him and was in the house. Engulfed in his terror, his foot unknowingly knocked against something, and he instantly overbalanced and crashed to the floor in a dead weight. His head bounced against the hardwood floor and one of his wings was crumpled under himself. 

"Oh my God, Gavin!" He heard a voice say through the flood of panic. 

He began to weakly claw at his chest, silently begging it to work right, before he felt hands yank his wrists away. He was picked up as if he weighed nothing and his head was all of a sudden in someone's lap and he was now positioned on his side, and he still couldn't breathe-!

"Gavin, breathe! Come on, babies do it all the time; you can too!"

Hands began to rub Gavin's back, and he was getting so light-headed. 'I'm going to die.' He realized, almost absently as he continued to feel several hands press against his spine.

A different, shaking hand began to pet his hair. 'G-Gavin, pl-pl-please,' a voice hiccuped behind him; the woman it belonged to sobbing as she carded her fingers through the strands. 'Pl-please God, please don't t-take my boy.'

"You have got to calm down and breathe, Gav! Follow what I'm doing. Breathe in-"

"MOTHER-FUCKER, YOU DO NOT GET TO DO THIS TO US! NOW FOR ONCE IN YOUR DAMN LIFE, LISTEN TO US AND BREATHE!" An unexpected solid hit to his back jarred something loose, and suddenly Gavin found himself coughing and wheezing uncontrollably. 

"GEOFF!"

"WHAT, BURNS?! IT FUCKING WORKED AND I WASN'T GOING TO LET HIM FUCKING DIE!"

"Ugh, fine it worked. Gav, I need you to match my breathing pattern," the Brit could now fuzzily make out the face of Burnie Burns and weakly nodded to show he understood.

He watched the other hybrid slowly inhale and tried to replicate it with his own stuttering breaths. The first few were very weak, and he wasn't able to get a lot of air. By the sixth and seventh; however, he was breathing almost normally. He was starting to get his wits about him and began to look around and find everyone.

Burnie was sitting in front of him and he looked like he was going to be sick. The man's curls were tussled around his horns in a way that looked like he had been pulling at his hair and his tail was thumping against a couch. Gavin knew Burnie well enough to recognize that the hybrid was severely stressed.

Griffon was the voice he'd heard earlier, and she continued to play with his hair, only now her head was bowed as she did so. She was whispering 'thank you' over and over between sobs, as her tears dripped and left wet spots on the floor. 

Turning his head to the left, Gavin held in a flinch. Geoff looked destroyed. The man was completely white in the face and his eyes were wide opened in stunned disbelief. The gent had silent tear tracks going down his face and trailing into his moustache. 

He turned his head away, unable to watch the usually strong man's pain and out of the corner of his eye, saw the laptop that the three had been huddled around before. He turned to face it and saw that there was a video paused. Trembling, Gavin crawled to the device and with a sinking feeling in his chest, unpaused the video.

 

_"-realize it now. You are a sin against nature, Gavin Free. You are a disease that needs fixed and if I-"_

 

"No, no,nonononono," he whimpered, quickly turning it off and starting to shake again. He wrapped his arms around his head and curled one of his wings around him. The one he had pinned when he fell hurt too much to curl all the way. "You didn't hear it. Please tell me you didn't hear it."

"Gav, honey..."

"This is not happening! How did you even get this?!" He exclaimed, interrupting Griffon and becoming more upset by the second. No one was ever supposed to find out and it felt like his world had just ended.

"It was with the videos you gave me yesterday," Burnie explained sadly as he picked himself up off of the ground. Beside him, Geoff went to his wife and tenderly helped her to her feet. "I was going through the USB flash drive when I saw... that." 

The Bison hybrid suddenly zeroed in on Gavin's wing. "I knew I should have taken him more seriously," he quietly muttered before saying completely out of the blue, "Michael called me after he dropped you off." He walked over to Gavin and gently placed his hand on his wing, touching the same spot the cat hybrid had. "He said that you had an area missing feathers and that it wasn't from a molt. He said it had looked like an injury."

'Stupid, I am so fucking stupid!' thought Gavin angrily, fighting the urge to rip his hair out. He'd noticed the weird stares from his friend and ignored them! He had also noticed after the attack that his phone had recorded something but his idiot, minging brain forgot about it almost instantly. Realizing the depths in which he fucked himself, he never hated himself more than in that very moment.

"Gavin, why didn't you talk to anyone about this?" Griffon asked. Her posture was weary but her tone was one of confusion. It looked like the only thing holding her up by this point was Geoff's arm around her waist. "What we just saw was criminal. The police-"

"Did you start living under a rock when I was gone?" Gavin remarked, a little nastier than he'd intended. "I'm a hybrid and the world is not as progressive as you two. There was almost no chance of law enforcement doing anything to help me." 

Burnie nodded and gave a look of understanding. "He's right, guys. In fact, the police probably would've come up with something to charge Gav with, just to be assholes."

"Ok, then why didn't you tell us?" Geoff stated. His tone was even but his body language was stiff. "I get that you were scared and that the rat bastards hurt you but why hide this from us?"

"I was worried for my life! They knew all of my information, and I didn't want to give them a reason to make good on their threats!"

"BULLSHIT!" Geoff burst out furiously, shocking Gavin into silence. "You are lying to me right now Gavin David Free and I will not stand for it. Not now; not after I watched you have the worst panic attack I've ever seen and almost suffocate." Geoff's voice broke, and he covered his face with one of his hands. "I've been in the army and I watched people die, but I am not strong enough to watch you go through that again. Why the fuck can't you trust us?" Tears began leaking through his fingers. 

Watching the man he loved in absolute torment, Gavin took a deep breath and let it out. It was time to stop lying.

"I was scared for my safety," said Gavin quietly, making a decision and hoping he wasn't about to hurt the people he loved the most. "I was petrified. But I was mostly scared that what those men were saying was true."

"Gav, how could you think that?" Burnie asked, gripping the lad's shoulder compassionately.

Gavin shrugged away from the man. "Because I am a fucking moron! Everyone says so all the damn time! I'm annoying in Let's Plays, frustrating to be around, and a walking disaster. My wings are always in the way and they could easily hurt someone if I'm not careful! I'm a fucking burden that you guys have to deal with!"

"Gavin, I swear on my life that none of us believe any of those things," Burnie stated firmly. His eyes were hard and he was breathing hard through his nose, sounding more like Bison than Gavin had ever heard before. "Sometimes we let the jokes go too far and Gav, that's on us. I speak for everyone at Rooster Teeth when I say that making you feel shitty was never our intention, and we will spend however long it takes to fix it. If the company ever had to go through the process of fighting to keep you, we would never stop swinging. The company just isn't home without you."

Gavin sniffed back tears. Even though he could feel them building and burning his eyes, the Brit refused to let them fall. Rooster Teeth was one of the most important things in his life and listening to Burnie talk about his worth to the company settled a fear he had held inside himself.

"Little bird, we care so much for you," Griffon began, sounding heartbroken. "We never thought you were a burden or frustrating to be around. You're fun to hang out with and the two of us mope whenever you are gone." She walked over to Gavin, wrapped her arms around his lanky frame, and looked up at him. "It has never mattered to us that you are a hybrid. Your wings are strong and beautiful and a part of you. We love your wings, Gav."

"Then why were you both ashamed of me?" cried Gavin, surprising everyone, especially himself. He broke away from Griffon and backed up until he hit a wall. Now that he had opened up the flood gates, he couldn't stop.

"Why are you ashamed to tell people about us? We've been together three months, and I can't tell anyone about it! Hell, I haven't even told Dan or Michael and I tell them everything!" He felt a tear escape and trail down his face and suddenly he was weeping. 

"I want to feel like a real member of this partnership," he wailed, feeling like he was being torn in two. He slid down the wall and hugged his knees to his chest. "I don't even know if you are my boyfriend and girlfriend, and I'm tired of being confused on where I stand in our relationship. I'm constantly scared that at any moment you'll realize you made a huge mistake with me, and I can't go back to being just friends and roommates. I love you both too much!"

Gavin's breath hitched as he fought for control of himself. He was Gavin Free, and Gavin Free did not cry. Even if his heart was broken. Besides, the last thing he needed was to put himself and everyone else through another panic attack. He swallowed down the lump currently lodged in his throat and viciously shoved his emotions back inside of himself. Noticing how quiet it now was, Gavin looked up and all at once realized what he had just done. Not only had he told his two partners that he loved them, but he just outed their threesome to Burnie.

The strange thing was, Burnie didn't drop dead from surprise and horror like Gavin thought he would. He didn't even look mildly shocked at the news. The older man glanced at Geoff before turning to Gavin with a reassuring smile.

"Gavin, almost four months ago Geoff came to my office the most upset I had ever seen him. He said that he was the worst human being on the planet and that I needed to 'fire his ass'," Burnie said, making the quote gesture with his fingers. "I, of course asked, 'What did you do?' Do you know what he said?"

"I haven't a clue," Gavin answered, confused as to where the story was going.

Burnie grinned. "The idiot slammed his head against my desk and yelled, 'Griff and I wanna do Gavin!'"

Gavin whipped his head around and saw Geoff had turned a bright red. Griffon however, was smirking at her husband.

"He proceeded to tell me how he and his wife had fallen for their little British twink and wanted to develop a relationship with him. He was very worried that the lad wouldn't be interested, and he didn't want to ruin what they already had. A part of him also worried that they would be taking advantage of the younger man," Burnie paused to offer his hand to Gavin to help him off the floor. Once the Brit was on his feet, he continued. "I asked Geoff why he was talking to me about this. He replied with, 'You are Gavin's hybrid guardian thingy and you've always looked after him. I guess I'm asking for your blessing or whatever.'"

"And you said, 'Get out of my office you sappy sack of shit'," Geoff muttered, red as a tomato.

Burnie ignored Geoff and enveloped Gavin in a hug. "You three need to talk without me here," he explained as he pulled away. The hybrid then looked Gavin in the eye. "You and I are going to talk later about keeping secrets that are dangerous to one's self and after that talk, I'm sicking Michael on you."

"What you're saying is that you are going to allow me to be murdered!" Gavin squawked as Burnie collected his laptop. 

"Non-negotiable, kid." Burnie replied before looking at his laptop and becoming solemn. "Gav, what do you want me to do with the video? It's your choice."

Gavin's mood dropped as soon as he was reminded of the recording. "Could you destroy it for me, Burnie? I'm not sure I can do it." He didn't care who got rid of it as long as he didn't have to be the one to do it.

"Destroy this too while you're on your way out," Griffon said, picking up and tossing Gavin's binder to the older hybrid. She turned to Gavin and said firmly, "You are completely safe with us and safe for us and so help me God, I never want to see your wings covered up ever again."

Gavin couldn't really say anything. Cameron had said to keep it only if the lanky hybrid was sure and now he wasn't sure he'd ever needed it. Besides, he hated the fucking thing.

Carrying the two unwelcome items under each arm, Burnie walked out the door.

Gavin walked over to the couch and flopped onto it. He instantly regretted being so careless when he felt his right wing, the one he had landed on, give a painful twinge. He let out a hiss as he carefully extended the wing to check for breaks.

"You okay, baby?" Griffon asked, tentatively sitting beside the hybrid. 

"It's sore and will probably bruise underneath the feathers, but nothing is broken or twisted wrong," said Gavin decisively. He waved it around a little, just to show he was telling the truth, before folding it back up.

Geoff had been watching the wing move back and forth, checking for signs of a deeper injury. Once Gavin had proved his point, the moustached gent slowly walked over to the two partners. Instead on sitting on the couch next to them, like Gavin thought he would, Geoff dropped to his knees and laid his head in Griffon's lap. The man then reached out and grabbed one of Gavin's hands and began to play with the digits.

"I failed you, Gavin," Geoff said letting out a sigh. He squeezed Gavin's fingers when the lad opened his mouth to disagree and said, "Stop, darling. Let me say this and then let Griffon talk, alright?" He waited for a squeeze back and once he received it, he started over. 

"I failed you, Gavin," he repeated, this time being able to continue. "I knew something was up from the second I saw you at the fucking airport, but I didn't want to smother you with questions and accusations. I didn't want to ever make you uncomfortable. You are so damn independent Gav, and Griffon and I have been scared to breach that. We assumed you would want not only your own space, but that you'd want to keep our relationship a secret so that if things went south, it wouldn't be awkward as dicks for you. We made that decision without asking you, and I'm really sorry for that. I will try to do better about that," and with that, he brushed a kiss against Gavin's knuckles.

"Sweetie, I failed you too," Griffon started, leaning against the lad. "I was a coward. I was so happy that we were all together that I never wanted to rock the boat, for fear the I would rock you right out of our relationship. It was my stupid idea that we would have no labels to define us. I did that thinking that it would make us all more equal, not even considering how off kilter it would make you feel."

Gavin felt a small, calloused hand cup his cheek. He was turned to face Griffon and seeing she had his full attention, dropped her hand and let out a nervous smile. 

"Gavin, do you remember the totem I showed you? The one I carved that is supposed to be in an exhibit for the museum?"

Gavin thought back to the piece and nodded. He remembered the details of the animals and how excited Griffon was to show him when he got home.

"We never told you what the exhibit was for, just that it had Austin artists," Geoff picked up the conversation, lifting his head to look at Gavin. "The exhibit is for artwork of the artists' loved ones. It's supposed to be a celebration of the 'joy of love', and everyone that does art for it is very publicly putting themselves out there."

"Gav, the totem is of us. It's our family totem. Geoff is the sleepy Bighorn sheep and I am the lady vulture. That leaves you as your hybrid animal on top of the pole," Griffon explained, smiling sweetly. "The totem was going to be my way of asking if we could take the relationship into a more open and public direction. If you said yes, then the carving would have a plaque with all of our names and everyone there would know we're in a triad."

"From there we could start letting people close to us know about our family," Geoff butted in before looking hopefully at Gavin. "So, what do you think? You don't have to say anything right away-"

Gavin didn't even let the older man finish before answering, "Of course it's yes, you silly sausage!" He wrapped his arms around the duo and felt answering limbs wrapping along his torso. "I love you, both," he said simply, like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"I love you too, baby," Griffon said, tucking herself into Gavin's side. "I'm sorry we fucked this up so bad."

"I fucked up too," the bird hybrid reminded the blonde currently attached to his side. "I should have told you about my worries and concerns, and I definitely shouldn't have hid the attack from you guys. I really do trust you."

"We know, buddy," Geoff said, giving Gavin a slobbery kiss to the cheek just to be an asshole. "I have certainly learned a valuable lesson from this experience. My boyfriend is not allowed to be more than ten feet away from me at any given time. He's going to start eating and sleeping better and let himself heal up. Also, he's gonna start carrying pepper spray."

At the word 'boyfriend', Gavin instantly settled inside of himself. He was their boyfriend; he was an important member of their relationship. He felt a burst of warmth that spread through his body. The lad smiled at Geoff's protective mutterings, instead of being worried like he probably should have been. He could feel Griffon nodding along with her husband next to him and recognized that he was completely besotted by these two people.

"You two are it for me," said Geoff matter-of-factly, looking between his partners, "and I'm going to protect you both." He then focused his attention on Gavin. "I need you to promise me that you'll let me know when something I say hurts you. I am not a hybrid, Gav, and I don't necessarily always know where the line is. If I cross it, and make you feel bad about yourself, call me on it. I never want you questioning how much I adore you."

Gavin felt something in his chest tighten at the words. He leaned forward to give several kisses to the tattooed man. He cupped the back of Geoff's head and continued to press his lips to Geoff's. He kept the rhythm of the kisses slow and lovely, trying to show what the sweet words meant to the hybrid, before breaking away.

"I promise, lovely Geoffrey," he said, his voice slightly choked up. He cleared his throat and wanting to break the tension, playfully nipped at the gent's nose. He got a pinch to his side in retaliation. 

"Silly boys," Griffon said, as she started to run her fingers down one of Gavin's wings. 

The movement felt awesome to the hybrid. It was a lot like when Gavin had to preen himself. As he felt the careful touches, Gavin decided preening his feathers was definitely going to be Griffon's new job.

"Griffon, can we go see our totem pole? It isn't fair that you both have seen it and I haven't." 

"It's fucking five in the morning," Geoff complained.

"I didn't mean right now, you donut," Gavin explained, looking at their hanging clock and seeing that Geoff was right. "I meant later."

"Later," Griffon agreed, yawning. "Now it's time to sleep."

The three untangled themselves from each other and stumbled into their bedroom. They all but crawled into the bed, getting in their usual sleeping positions. 

"I love you assholes," Geoff said, leaning over to give his wife a peck. 

"Luh you too," Griffon said, already half-asleep. Within seconds, the blonde was snoring.

"She still doesn't believe she does that," Geoff said fondly. "I even recorded her once, and she watched it and still said it wasn't her snoring." Geoff shifted slightly before relaxing. After about a minute, his breathing changed into breathy snores.

Gavin let out a chuckle at his sleepy duo, and seeing how peaceful they were, decided to join them. Feeling exhausted and happy, Gavin closed his eyes and slowly drifted off, safe between the two people that loved him.

 

 

-

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo, I went a little bit overboard. This was easily the longest thing I have ever written and towards the end, I was a bit of a worried mess that this monster would never get finished. Without the help of my sister looking through it, I would have been in big trouble. Thank you, Cena! 
> 
> This was written from a prompt given from thehomoadventuresofdestiel.tumbr for the RageHappy Secret Santa. My tumblr is teamwaffle-o and feel free to stop by and say "Hi!" Tell me how you feel about the story!
> 
> I would also like to add that sleeping in a binder is a huge no-no. It is super dangerous and I don't want anyone thinking that I endorse doing so. Take care of yourselves and happy holidays<3


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